Comparison of Intravenous Ondansetrone versus Stimulation of P6 Acupuncture Point in Prevention of Intraoperative Nausea and Vomiting during Caesarean Section

Objective: To draw a comparison between acupuncture point stimulation with prototype drug ondansetron to establish its efficacy. Study Design: Quasi-Experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Anesthesia department, Combined Military Hospital, Quetta Pakistan, from Aug 2022 to Jan 2023. Methodology: Hospitals ethical committee given its permission with IERB number# ERC/88/2023. 50 patients were included in the study, with 25 in each study group as OS (Ondansetrone), who received intravenous ondansetron and OP (Acupuncture) group who received stimulation of P6 acupunture point. The gravid ladies with reproductive age group (18 to 40 years) were included. The patients were monitored for any nausea/retching and vomiting as primary outcome. Results: The frequency of nausea and vomiting was analogous in both study groups. 10(20%) patients who received ondansetron developed nausea and vomiting while 23(46%) patients did not have any episode of nausea, vomiting or retching. Similarly, 38(76%) group OP patients who were underwent transcutaneous stimulation of Nei-Kuan point didn’t show any signs of nausea and vomiting. 12(24%) patients in group OP developed nausea and vomiting which was comparable to group OS statistics with p value of 0.405. This shows that there was no significant difference between two study group. Conclusion: Stimulation of P6 acupunture point was analogous to ondansetron for prevention of intra-operative nausea and vomiting.